In: Journal of Medical Entomology, 2007, vol. 44, no. 5, p. 869-880

Larvae of the cattle tick Boophilus microplus and all life stages of the European sheep tick Ixodes ricinus avoid walking on a wet membrane surface surrounding a dry patch. Of 170 reactions made at a border with liquid water by 22 B. microplus larvae, 40% consisted of immediate turns to the opposite side to bring all the legs back onto a dry patch, 41% were walks along the border, during which...

In: Altex, 2007, vol. 24, p. 39-41

An artificial feeding unit with a reinforced silicone membrane to replace host skin provides ticks with a perch over blood with a tick attachment rate of 75-100%. Some 5 mg of an acaricide like fipronil is sufficient to establish survival curves over different doses down to ppb levels in blood. This in vitro feeding assay for hard ticks is more advantageous than in vivotrials on animals.

In: Acta Tropica, 1979, vol. 36, p. 357-367

A tick/rickettsial survey in various parts of Switzerland revealed the presence of a new, hitherto undescribed spotted fever group rickettsia ("Swiss agent") in up to 11.7% of I ricinus collected off vegetation. Infection in ticks was found to be generalized with rickettsiae developing intracellularly and occasionally also intranuclearly. As a result of massive growth in ovarial tissues,...

Mating of the cattle tick Boophilus microplus is mediated by chemical stimuli on the cuticle of females. Males are arrested on the dorsum of females attached to the host, frequently sample the substrate, and then tip-over to the ventrally located gonopore. These behaviours are also observed in vitro when males are placed on a small glass bead treated with a female extract. Time spent and...

In: Journal of Insect Behavior, 2000, vol. 13, no. 3, p. 397-420

Life stages of different tick species avoid walking on a wet surface surrounding a dry patch by systematically returning to the dry each time they contact the wet surface beyond the border with the tip of a first leg tarsus. Sequential analysis of the border behaviors shows that repetitive contact with the water increases the probability of walks astride the border. Ticks accept this unilateral...

Most in vivo and in vitro tests with repellents or deterrents against ticks have not considered which sensory channel is being targeted. We have recorded the responses of two hard tick species (Acari: Ixodidae) in vitro to determine if such products can disrupt the perception of an attractant in a repellent assay or the perception of an arrestment stimulus in a deterrent...

In: International Immunology, 2007, vol. 19, no. 4, p. 535-543

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in priming naive T cells. Using an in vitro priming system, we show that DCs incubated with Ixodes ricinus tick saliva initiate the Th2 differentiation of CD4+T cells. As determined with reverse transcription–PCR, the expression of IL-4 mRNA by these cells is higher than IFN-γ mRNA....